Agricultural Land Use Change Research Articles

Investigating the changes in agricultural land use and actual evapotranspiration of the Urmia Lake basin based on FAO’s WaPOR database

The Urmia Lake Basin (ULB) is a critical region in terms of water and environment in Iran. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between agricultural land-use changes and the decrease of the Lake Urmia water level, calculating the actual evapotranspiration and interception (ETIa) in agricultural and non-agricultural lands, investigating the trend of temperature changes and its relationship with ETIa, determining the water balance, and estimating net and gross biomass water productivity in the ULB. So, Land Cover Classification (LCC) maps, ETIa and water productivity were prepared from FAO’s WaPOR product (FWP) from 2009 to 2020. Daily precipitation and temperature were collected from 24 meteorological stations in the ULB. To validate FWP land cover classification, 354 control points were collected and the error matrix and Kappa coefficient were used. Then, based on the ETIa and LCC estimated by FWP, the volume of water consumed in irrigated, rainfed, fallow and non-agricultural lands, as well as the water balance of the basin, was calculated. The overall accuracy (OA) and Kappa coefficient for LCC were 86% and 0.81, respectively. The results showed that until 2013, the area of irrigated and rainfed agricultural lands had been increased by 48%, which could be regarded as an influential factor in reducing the water level of Lake Urmia. The average annual precipitation and ETIa of the basin were 15.24 × 109 and 15.91 × 109 m3, respectively. Also, the average annual ETIa of agricultural lands, grasslands and evaporation from the surface of Lake Urmia were 4.88 × 109, 8.18 × 109 and 2.85 × 109 m3, respectively. Therefore, a negative balance of 0.67 × 109 m3 was observed. The results also showed that the average annual temperature had been increased by 1.1 °C from 2009 to 2020. Finally, the rise of the temperature and area of irrigated croplands, the decrease of precipitation and the negative water balance should be considered as warning signals calling for the proper management of water resources.

Evaluation of drought on agricultural land-use change: A case study of coastal districts, Ben Tre province

Ben Tre is a coastal province in the Mekong Delta heavily affected by negative impacts of climate change and sea level rise, such as freshwater shortage and increased salinity intrusion during the dry season. This research aimed to develop a remote sensing approach, using time series data to assess drought development for the coastal districts (Ba Tri, Binh Dai, and Thanh Phu) in Ben Tre province. The Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) was analyzed based on the time-series Landsat 8 OLI data, which were obtained continuously from 2009 - 2019 to evaluate drought changes over time. The drought maps of 2009 and 2019 were established and the results showed that there were four levels of drought, including non-drought, slight drought, moderate drought and severe drought. Areas with non-drought and slight drought were reported at 5.65% and 35.34% (about 6,098 ha and 38,146 ha), respectively; while about 53.14% and 5.87% of the study areas were classified as moderate and severe drought (about 57,354 ha and 6,332 ha), respectively. The assessment of fluctuations in the period 2009-2019 showed that the areas of non-drought and slight drought tended to decrease while the areas of moderate and severe drought increased. The drought was positively related to agricultural land-use change as shown by the following formula loge(Pi/(1 - Pi)) = 7.985 * TVDI - 6.746. Drought tended to decrease in the areas where the bare land was changed to lands for perennial crops, rice crops and aquaculture, while drought tended to increase in land-use types of rice and annual crops.

Sustainable Agricultural Land Management in Garut Regency, West Java Province, Indonesia

The high land conversion rate to other sectors has led the government to issue Law No. 41 in 2009 concerning Protection of Sustainable Agricultural Land (SAL). The study aims to identify the distribution of sustainable agricultural land uses and determine agricultural land-use changes from 2016 to 2019 and determine farmers' understanding of sustainable agricultural land control in the strategic area of Garut Regency. We overlaid the land use maps of Garut Regency in 2016 and 2019 and conducted a survey using an online questionnaire with a Google form. The research location is in five districts in Garut Regency. The results showed no land conversion in the area of existing sustainable agricultural land in Garut Regency. The total rice field area is 6,081 hectares, with about 24% is sustainable agricultural land. From 2016 to 2019, the rice field area decreased by 12 hectares. The farmers' awareness of SAL tends to be more likely aware of the sustainable agricultural land area, as many as 39% of farmers aware of sustainable agricultural land. The incentives given to farmers who control sustainable agricultural land are tax deduction, agricultural infrastructure supply, agricultural production facilities subsidies, and land certification facilities. The majority of the respondents are aware of these incentives. In conclusion, no sustainable agricultural land is converted, even though changes occur in non-sustainable agricultural land. The impact of this study is for recommendations to the government in sustainable agricultural land management.

Chaco region: Forest loss and fragmentation in the context of the territorial planning law. Remote sensing assessment in Formosa, Argentina application case

Agricultural expansion is the primary cause of forest loss and fragmentation. It threatens the conservation of its biodiversity as well as the capability to provide ecosystem services. Land-use policies, such as zonation programs, have been traditionally used as a tool for promoting a sustainable natural resource management; however, we still lack standardized methodologies that can be applied world-widely to achieve this purpose. In the current context of rampant deforestation over the tropical forests, there is an urgent need of identifying policies that steer agricultural land-use change into a reduced pressure on forests. This study focuses on the outcomes of the first territorial planning law in the Province of Formosa (Argentina) located within the Chaco region, one of the world’s deforestation hotspots. The research questions were: a) How did agriculture expand in Formosa before, during and after the enactment of the territorial planning law? b) Did the introduction of the law affect the spatial distribution of land-use change?; and c) How did the sanction of the law affect forest loss and forest fragmentation? Landsat imagery was used to map land-use change, and to calculate the cover loss and cover loss rate considering the zoning and physiognomic classification of the law. The forest fragmentation was evaluated in terms of forest loss spatial configuration, classified as perforation or shrinkage, forest edge generation, patch size distribution, and patch isolation. The territorial planning law effect over agricultural expansion was tested using a difference in difference model. After the law was passed, a reduced land-use pressure was observed for the forest within the conservation designated zone; however, the forest presented the highest cover loss rates among the physiognomic categories of the law. Land-use change within the conservation designated zone was predominantly made according to a perforation spatial configuration, which promoted the forest edge generation. The isolation between forest patches decreased and its size distribution changed towards a less large-patch-centered pattern, indicating that Formosa is experiencing an early fragmentation process. Overall, the territorial planning law in Formosa succeeded in the relief of land-use pressure on forest, but highlighted the need of incorporating spatial configuration guidelines for long-term forest conservation. The case of Formosa case could be useful in the design of future sustainable natural resource management policies and implies the importance of early natural resource planning.

Stakeholders’ Perceptions on Agricultural Land-Use Change, and Associated Factors, in Nigeria

Agricultural Land-Use Change (ALUC) is a major driver of global environmental change, not least via its direct impact on the sustainability and resilience of the rural economy. Its drivers are complex and have remained contentious, necessitating further empirical study. This study aims to derive context-specific evidence on the driving factors and effects of ALUC from different stakeholders’ perceptions. We carried out household surveys and participatory rural appraisal across Benue State, Nigeria. ALUC has economic, social, ecological, and institutional implications for farmers and on agricultural productivity. Farmers perceived that the main factors driving ALUC were land conflict, government land-use policies and infrastructural development. Stakeholders’ perceptions revealed that although the factors driving ALUC are diverse in nature, they are somewhat embedded within the broader issue of land-use conflict, which has led to cropland abandonment, clearing of forest vegetation, soil degradation, changes from large scale to subsistence farming, and farmers’ eventual loss of interest in agriculture. This suggest that the drivers and implications of ALUC go beyond simple changes to the extent of land used for agriculture, but also incorporates other regional socio-ecological changes. Our study highlights the importance of stakeholders’ perceptions in understanding complex socio-ecological issues if we are to provide clear direction into areas where policy interventions are most needed.

An analysis of the effects of the city physical development on urban environmental sustainability: A case study of Piranshahr city, Iran

The present study is aimed at investigating the spatial-temporal patterns and processes of urban development of Piranshahr city, Iran, from 1984 to 2025 by using satellite remote sensing images, spatial metrics, and Micmac scenario. Scenario techniques with partial contribution to Integrated Management in the city are examined and spatial analysis is performed on the satellite map in question using Indris in several different courses so as to estimate the role of these criteria in the physical development of the city and its instability. In fact, the present study applies the changes in agricultural land use of Shinabad in order to test the hypothesis as in the following: the annexation of an area can be influenced by the physical growth of urban spaces in Piranshahr. The findings indicate that although Shinabad has been joined to the city, it is one of the regions suffering from irregular expansion and inconsistent distribution of population due to successive migrations during the last decades.

Changing soil organic carbon with land use and management practices in a thousand-year cultivation region

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a critical mass of global terrestrial carbon store that can be altered by land use and land management practices. As an important grain production area in the Yellow River basin, there have been intensive agricultural activities in the Guanzhong Plain for over 1000 years. The conversion of cropland into orchard and changes in land management practices could have altered the distribution and amount of SOC stores in the region. To determine spatial variations in SOC and its response to changes in land use and land management practices in the thousand-year cultivated region, SOC content was measured at 127 sites, including 117 sites in the 0–100 cm soil layer and 10 sites in the 0–1000 cm soil layer. The results showed a pronounced decline in SOC content with increasing depth in the upper 100 cm soil layer, whereas it was relatively low and stable in deeper soil layers. SOC stock in the 0–100 and 100–1000 cm soil layers accounted for 16.9% and 83.1%, respectively, of the total SOC stock in the 0–1000 cm soil profile. Compared with the 1980s, mean SOC stock in the 0–100 cm soil layer significantly increased (by 0.69 kg m−2) over the 40-year period. Furthermore, no significant difference was observed in SOC content between cropland and orchard land soils for both the 0–100 and 100–1000 cm soil layers. Land management practices (irrigation and fertilization), climatic variables (precipitation and temperature), and soil properties (pH and clay content) together influenced the spatial variations in SOC in the 0–60 cm soil depth. However, variations were dominantly driven by soil properties at depths below 60 cm. Therefore, while SOC in layers below 100 cm was critical for carbon budget estimations, SOC was not altered by changes in agricultural land use in both the shallow and deep soils of the study area. Agricultural management practices, soil properties, and organic carbon storage in deep soils need to be considered in future carbon budget studies in cultivated lands, especially in regions with deep soils.

Distribution, Population Size, and Habitat Characteristics of the Endangered European Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus citellus, Rodentia, Mammalia) in Its Southernmost Range

The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is an endangered species, endemic to Central and Southeastern Europe, inhabiting burrow colonies in grassland and agricultural ecosystems. In recent years, agricultural land-use changes and increased urbanization have largely contributed to a severe population decline across its range, particularly in its southernmost edge. Assessing the population and habitat status of this species is essential for prioritizing appropriate conservation actions. The present study aims to track population size changes and identify habitat characteristics of the species in Greece via a literature search, questionnaires, and fieldwork for assessing trends in population size as well as spatial K-means analysis for estimating its relation to specific habitat attributes. We found that both distribution size (grid number) and colony numbers of the species decreased in the last decades (by 62.4% and 74.6%, respectively). The remaining colonies are isolated and characterized by low density (mean = 7.4 ± 8.6 ind/ha) and low number of animals (mean = 13 ± 16 individuals). Most of the colonies are situated in lowlands and did not relate to specific habitat attributes. Habitat aspect and system productivity (NDVI) were the main factors contributing mostly to the clustering of the existing colonies. These results demonstrate that the species is confined to small, isolated anthropogenic habitats. Specific conservation actions such as population reinforcement, habitat improvement, and specific common agricultural policy measures could effectively improve agroecological zones that are suitable for the maintenance and protection of existing and potential habitats for populations of the species.

CONTRIBUTION OF POPULATION GROWTH, AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AND INFLATION TO POVERTY

Poverty as one of the cases faced by Indonesia that until now has not been resolved. Poverty alleviation as a top priority for national and regional development. Policies, strategies, programs and activities have been implemented in reducing poverty rates. The purpose of this study is to analyze the donation of population growth, agricultural land use and inflation to poverty in Purbalingga Regency. This study aims to examine the process of analyzing a research object by means of calculation of population growth donations, changes in the use of agricultural huma & inflation against poverty in Purbalingga Regency. The data used in this study is secondary data. The data taken by the author is time series data or time series based on 2005 to 2020. The results showed that Population Growth, Changes in Agricultural Land Use and Inflation Against Poverty amounted to 82.7%

Economic and ecological adaptation to changes in agricultural land use to increase sustainable economic resilience

Demand for land has increased very rapidly in line with population development and economic growth. In an effort to achieve high economic growth, land productivity is spurred in such a way as to result in the increased exploitation of natural resources which has an impact on the destruction of forests, land, water, air, and biodiversity. The concept of sustainable use of natural resources will face various challenges because, on the one hand, increased economic resilience must be encouraged, while on the other hand, ecological aspects and physical preservation of the landscape must be maintained. The study was aimed at finding out the historical basis of forest land-use change and recommendations for sustainable land use models based on the economic and ecological adaptation of farmers around the buffer zone of Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL), Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This type of research is qualitative research to describe the history of land-use change and ecological adaptation. Meanwhile, economic risk analysis is used to explain the economic adaptation of farmers. The results showed that land use with agroforestry systems was the result of the economic and ecological adaptation of farmers based on the economic and climate change risks faced by farmers around forests.

Changes in Coastal Agricultural Land Use in Response to Climate Change: An Assessment Using Satellite Remote Sensing and Household Survey Data in Tien Hai District, Thai Binh Province, Vietnam

We analyzed the agricultural land-use changes in the coastal areas of Tien Hai district, Thai Binh province, in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020, using Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 data. We used the object-oriented classification method with the maximum likelihood algorithm to classify six types of land uses. The series of land-use maps we produced had an overall accuracy of more than 80%. We then conducted a spatial analysis of the 5-year land-use change using ArcGIS software. In addition, we surveyed 150 farm households using a structured questionnaire regarding the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity and land uses, as well as farmers’ adaptation and responses. The results showed that from 2005 to 2020, cropland decreased, while aquaculture land and forest land increased. We observed that the most remarkable decreases were in the area of rice (485.58 ha), the area of perennial crops (109.7 ha), and the area of non-agricultural land (747.35 ha). The area of land used for aquaculture and forest increased by 566.88 ha and 772.60 ha, respectively. We found that the manifestations of climate change, such as extreme weather events, saltwater intrusion, drought, and floods, have had a profound impact on agricultural production and land uses in the district, especially for annual crops and aquaculture. The results provide useful information for state authorities to design land-management strategies and solutions that are economic and effective in adapting to climate change.

Agricultural land-use change exacerbates the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes via surface runoffs in Lake Tai Basin, China

Agricultural runoff is an important antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) dissemination pathway from farmlands to water environment, however few studies have focused on the influence of agricultural land-use change on the pattern of ARGs in runoff and assess the health risk to public. Lake Tai Basin which experiences agricultural land-use change was selected to elucidate this concern. Our findings revealed that the pattern of ARGs was more diverse and the gene abundance was higher in orchard runoffs by comparison with conventional cropland runoffs. Co-occurrence network analysis between mobile genetic elements and ARGs demonstrated that after agricultural land-use change, ARG dissemination via runoffs became more threatened. In addition, this study illustrated the correlations between the antibiotic resistome and microbiome in runoffs, finding that non-dominant microbial taxa were the limiting factor which determined the pattern of ARGs in surface runoffs. In summary, the pattern and dissemination risk of ARGs in the surface runoff after agricultural land-use change in Lake Tai Basin were clarified via this study.

Agricultural Land-Use Changes in the Judean Region from the End of the Ottoman Empire to the End of the British Mandate: A Spatial Analysis

Vines and olives are two important and widespread traditional agricultural crops that are also connected to the Judeo–Christian–Muslim tradition. The goal of the research was to demonstrate the importance of using cartographical sources to obtain a more accurate and complete view of the past. To this end, the aims were: (1) to reconstruct the former agricultural land-use in three periods, 1873–1874, 1917, and 1943–1945; (2) to analyze the different spatial physical factors that could explain the spatial distribution of traditional agricultural landscapes; (3) to identify the changes which took place between the three reconstructed timestamps. The research employed different cartographic sources and the implemented analyses were conducted using GIS tools and methods. The results show that, in the past, the distribution of vines and olive groves greatly depended on several physical geographic factors (climate, slopes, direction). Nonetheless, human factors such as political instability, cultural and religious beliefs contributed as well. Moreover, this research showed how GIS has advanced historical geography research. Lastly, the research demonstrated that obtaining the most complete view of the past can be achieved by a combination of sources together with the use of GIS tools and methods.

Limited Economic-Ecological Trade-Offs in a Shifting Agricultural Landscape: A Case Study From Kern County, California

Increasing global food production and livelihoods while maintaining ecosystem health will require significant changes in the way existing farming landscapes are managed. To this end, developing a systemic understanding of the economic and ecological impacts of different cropping systems, and identifying trade-offs and synergies between them, is crucial to inform decision-making for policy makers and landowners. Here, we investigate the impacts of agricultural land-use change for 15 distinct crops in Kern County, California, by looking at spatial and temporal changes in ecosystem indicators. We focus our analysis on three agricultural ecosystem pressures (water use, soil erosion, and pesticide use) and three agricultural ecosystem services (profits, calorie production, and C sequestration). Between 2002 and 2018, agriculture in Kern County underwent a shift from annual row crop to nut tree crop production. At the landscape-scale, we found high increases in ecosystem service provision (total profits, calorie production, and annual C sequestration increased by 105, 29, and 37%, respectively), coupled with smaller changes in ecosystem pressures (total soil erosion and evapotranspiration increased by 10 and 5%, respectively, and total pesticide use declined by 4%). We identified no salient trade-offs or synergies among crops. Our results illustrate that in the highly productive agricultural hotspot of Kern County, a combination of changes in land-cover allocation or land-use efficiency may have mitigated stronger negative environmental impacts following a broad shift from annual to perennial crops.

An Integrated Economic, Environmental and Social Approach to Agricultural Land-Use Planning

Agricultural land-use change is a dynamic process that varies as a function of social, economic and environmental factors spanning from the local to the global scale. The cumulative regional impacts of these factors on land use adoption decisions by farmers are neither well accounted for nor reflected in agricultural land use planning. We present an innovative spatially explicit agent-based modelling approach (Crop GIS-ABM) that accounts for factors involved in farmer decision making on new irrigation adoption to enable land-use predictions and exploration. The model was designed using a participatory approach, capturing stakeholder insights in a conceptual model of farmer decisions. We demonstrate a case study of the factors influencing the uptake of new irrigation infrastructure and land use in Tasmania, Australia. The model demonstrates how irrigated land-use expansion promotes the diffusion of alternative crops in the region, as well as how coupled social, biophysical and environmental conditions play an important role in crop selection. Our study shows that agricultural land use reflected the evolution of multiple simultaneous interacting biophysical and socio-economic drivers, including soil and climate type, crop and commodity prices, and the accumulated effects of interactive decisions of farmers.

Agriculture Land Use Change and Demographic Change in Response to Decline Suspended Sediment in Južna Morava River Basin (Serbia)

This study expounds the dynamic relationships among agricultural land-use change, rural population migration, and sediment transport. The variability of suspended sediment load was detected by Mann–Kendall and Pettitt tests. From 1961 to 2007, the annual trend in suspended sediment concentration and sediment load demonstrated significant reduction (α = 0.001), with decreasing rates of 0.0144 g/L/y and 84.7 t/y, respectively. An abrupt change-point was detected in 1984 for the sediment load (p = 0.0001). The double-mass curve method and regression analysis of sediment load versus precipitation were used to quantify the effects of climate change and human activities on sediment load variations. The changes in sediment load were predominantly impacted by human activities (89%), while precipitation explained 11% of the reduction in suspended sediment. An important land-use change recorded in the Južna Morava river basin comprised the abandonment of agricultural lands due to depopulation processes, as well as economic and social changes, which was followed by significant impacts on soil erosion and sediment transport. Land abandonment was most pronounced in marginal mountain or semi-mountainous areas, where agriculture was until recent decades traditional or semi-traditional. The results of the correlation matrix were significant at the p < 0.05 level, demonstrating that the decrease of rural population, agricultural land, and arable land were directly related to the decline of suspended sediment. High correlation coefficients were found between anthropogenic indicators and sediment parameters, ranging from 0.94 to 0.97.

Impact of agricultural land-use change to the surface run-off: a case study of Cereng catchment area, Kulon Progo Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta

Agricultural land-use changes can cause a reduction in the green open space area, thereby reducing infiltration and increase surface run-off. One of the phenomena in agricultural land-use changes as indicated by the addition of the percentage of irrigation paddy fields in Cereng Catchment Area (CA) by 2.31%, 2.94%, and 4.39%, respectively, in 1995, 2008, and 2018. Besides, the addition of the settlement area and the plantation area’s reduction were also phenomena of land-use change. The impact of these changes is associated with curve number (CN) and direct run-off. The analysis conducted on the relationship between effective design rainfall and response to the land-use changes to produce direct run-off volume in 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 years-return period, respectively, in 1995, 2008, and 2018 using the HEC-HMS model. The result showed that have addition to CN that were 81.85, 85.82, and 86.66, respectively, in 1995, 2008, and 2018. This addition caused an increase in the percentage of direct run-off volume from 1995 to 2018; those values were 24.28%, 16.8%, 13.76%, 11.61%, and 9.53%, respectively, at the 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50-years return period. The increase in the value of direct run-off volume causes a high possibility of a flood.

Monitoring agricultural land-use change in Palaran Subdistrict, Samarinda City, East Kalimantan Province in 2006, 2014, and 2020

Land-use change is a regional development process and one type of land-use that has undergone many land-use changes in agriculture. Palaran Subdistrict, as one of the largest agricultural land in Samarinda City, has experienced an agricultural land conversion over the past 15 years, mainly caused by mining activities and thus led to the agricultural land reduction. This study aims to analyze agricultural land-use changes in 2006, 2014, and 2020 in Palaran Subdistrict, Samarinda City. The method used in this study is a spatial comparison of agricultural land-use in 2006 and 2014; also between 2014 and 2020 using Land Change Modeler tools in Idrisi Selva 17. Land-use obtained from manual digitation based on Landsat 5 imagery in 2006, Landsat 8 imagery in 2014, and Sentinel-2a imagery in 2020. This study’s results indicate agricultural land-use change in the northern part of the Palaran Subdistrict that changed into a settlement. In the middle of the Palaran Subdistrict, that changed into a bare land area.

SSP‐Based Land‐Use Change Scenarios: A Critical Uncertainty in Future Regional Climate Change Projections

AbstractTo better understand the role projected land‐use changes (LUCs) may play in future regional climate projections, we assess the combined effects of greenhouse‐gas (GHG)‐forced climate change and LUCs in regional climate model (RCM) simulations. To do so, we produced RCM simulations that are complementary to the North‐American Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (NA‐CORDEX) simulations, but with future LUCs that are consistent with particular Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and related to a specific Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). We examine the state of the climate at the end of the 21st century with and without two urban and agricultural LUC scenarios that follow SSP3 and SSP5 using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model forced by one global climate model, the MPI‐ESM, under the RCP8.5 scenario. We find that LUCs following different societal trends under the SSPs can significantly affect climate projections in different ways. In regions of significant cropland expansion over previously forested area, projected annual mean temperature increases are diminished by around 0.5°C–1.0°C. Across all seasons, where urbanization is high, projected temperature increases are magnified. In particular, summer mean temperature projections are up to 4°C–5°C greater and minimum and maximum temperature projections are increased by 2.5°C–6°C, amounts that are on par with the warming due to GHG‐forced climate change. Warming is also enhanced in the urban surroundings. Future urbanization also has a large influence on precipitation projections during summer, increasing storm intensity, event length, and the overall amount over urbanized areas, and decreasing precipitation in surrounding areas.

The dynamic changes in peri-urban agricultural area and typology of multi-function agriculture in Batu City, Indonesia

Urbanization and population growth are logical consequences for economic growth and regional development. In the face of the pressure of urbanization, both in the form of competition for land use and increasing food needs, an adaptation effort of the agricultural system is needed. This study analyzes the patterns of in-situ urbanization that occurred in Batu City, East Java, and the dynamics of the development of agricultural areas in Batu City. This study used land use change analysis, descriptive statistics on socio-economic data, and spatial clustering analysis to map and obtain a relationship between in-situ urbanization processes that occur with the development of agricultural areas in Batu City. The results of this study indicate that there was a strong relationship between the process of in-situ urbanization that occurred in Batu City towards changes in agricultural land use and resulted in the adaptation of a multifunctional farming system in Batu City. There are three types of multifunction agriculture in the Batu City, with focused on incorporating the tourism and agriculture, and create a strong social-environmental awareness of the sustainability development. The development of multifunctional agriculture in Batu City is one of the main strategies to face of current in-situ urbanization.